Can I actually lose weight walking?
peppypea
Posts: 8 Member
I get a minimum of 10k steps daily- working hard, not strolling. Weekdays I am averaging 16k.
I am keeping my calories at 1650 most of the time, though I let myself use my "extra" calories some times when I make at least 15k.
This is so slow going- am I ever going to really see definable results? I just wanna have a cute figure. (Healthier lifestyle is a side-benefit, don't hate.)
I am keeping my calories at 1650 most of the time, though I let myself use my "extra" calories some times when I make at least 15k.
This is so slow going- am I ever going to really see definable results? I just wanna have a cute figure. (Healthier lifestyle is a side-benefit, don't hate.)
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Replies
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At what rate are you losing weight? I know it can feel like it's going to take forever, especially with a large amount to lose (I have about another 80-90lbs to lose myself), but you don't want to lose too much at once either.1
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I'd like to be losing 2lbs a week. So far it seems about .5 lb/week.
I just hate that a friend of mine started 4 weeks after me and exercises less and just changed a meal for a shake and she says she's lost 13lbs in that time. It effing kills me. Can't wait for her to make it to stupid menopause, too. *pouts0 -
Diet is a bigger factor in weight loss than exercise, she could not be exercising at all and still lose more weight than you if she is running a larger caloric deficit.6
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I'd like to be losing 2lbs a week. So far it seems about .5 lb/week.
I just hate that a friend of mine started 4 weeks after me and exercises less and just changed a meal for a shake and she says she's lost 13lbs in that time. It effing kills me. Can't wait for her to make it to stupid menopause, too. *pouts
to lose average 2 lbs a week, you need to have an average daily deficit of 1000 calories. you can do the math deduct what you burn from what you eat. You shouldn't compare your weight loss to someone elses. Slow and steady will get you to your goal, most of the people that drop a bunch fast in a few weeks are on some unsustainable crash diet and gain it all back and more when they go back to their old habits. Eat the calorie level that mfp suggests for you, and get in some exercise and do this forever and you will get to your goal.4 -
At first, walking was the only exercise I got. These days, my goal is to either get in 2 hours of leisurely walking or 1 hour on my fitness glider every day (along with strength training every other day). I've dropped over 65 lbs. Now. Weight loss happens, as other posters have pointed out, due to being in a calorie deficit. But here's the thing: I'm short (5'3") and sedentary. Without exercise, my base calories to lose 1lb/wk are 1380. This is doable, but it's a tight budget. I walked 2.5 hours today (90 minutes in the morning, 60 in the afternoon) and use the '2.5 mph' setting because I'm not really sure how fast I walk, but I know that's the slowest I'm going. According to MFP? That's 642 calories for me. As a rule of thumb, I shoot to eat back 50% of exercise calories and, if I really feel I want a bit more, 75%. The weight is coming off and I'm usually eating 1600-1800 calories. So, in short... YES. You can!9
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2 lbs a week is a bit fast. I am very obese and did it at the beginning but I started having really bad delayed onset muscle soreness from workouts. I also was chronically tired. It was a mistake even in the morbidly obese range to lose that fast IMHO. 1 to 1/2 lbs of weight loss is better for a lifestyle change.
Back on topic: Yes walking and calorie deficit will lead to weight loss. So will just a calorie deficit. The walking part just helps increase overall health at same time.4 -
Unless you are weighing your food on a scale it's very likely you are underestimating how much you are eating. Walking is great exercise, however the deficit in calories is what causes weight loss. Walking can increase that deficit by burning extra calories, but if your not accounting for the calories eaten accurately then you might still be eating too much for your goal of 2 pound per week.3
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Of course
my only proper exercise is walking my dog every day and I'm losing my 1 kg (2 lb) a week as planned/desired. 2 -
I get a minimum of 10k steps daily- working hard, not strolling. Weekdays I am averaging 16k.
I am keeping my calories at 1650 most of the time, though I let myself use my "extra" calories some times when I make at least 15k.
This is so slow going- am I ever going to really see definable results? I just wanna have a cute figure. (Healthier lifestyle is a side-benefit, don't hate.)
What are your height and weight? For women I usually estimate the last 25 lbs to come off at a half pound a week, pounds 26-60 to be a pound a week, and over that slightly faster at 1.5 lbs per week. Weight loss is a long term project. Fat loss is an even longer term process as it means you sacrifice some speed for better body composition. A "cute figure" is easier to achieve with the latter as it somewhat reduces the post-loss "still working on body composition" time, though that can still be a few years too.4 -
You don't lose weight by walking. You lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. If walking helps you do that great. But you can walk 10 miles per day and out eat your calorie burn. What you do for exercise and fitness is up to you.1
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There are some numbers in scientific papers that also fit with the compendium of exercise. These numbers come down to:
0.3 * weight in pounds * distance = your calorie expenditure when walking. (and 0.68 for running)
Speed has fairly little influence in the whole unless you start to run and your feet actually are not on the ground anymore at the same time. Use this equation to find out how much you're walking. But don't add your normal walk to the loo or the kitchen to fetch a cup of tea as that's part of your normal daily energy expenditure. Only track the calories you're walking because you're walking for sport.3 -
I'd like to be losing 2lbs a week. So far it seems about .5 lb/week.
I just hate that a friend of mine started 4 weeks after me and exercises less and just changed a meal for a shake and she says she's lost 13lbs in that time. It effing kills me. Can't wait for her to make it to stupid menopause, too. *pouts
Guessing 2 lbs per week is too aggressive, as others have pointed out. On your friend, if they are doing the shake thing, it won't last. She may sprint ahead of you, but be in this for the long term and figure out how you want to eat for the long term, and do that with the right amount of calories.
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Ditto to everything everyone here has said about the calorie deficit! But, I'd like to add that your friend who changed one meal to a shake may have lost a lot of water weight. Depending on your body, and your pre-lifestyle-change diet, you could lose 5+ pounds right off the bat just from water weight alone. When she stops doing those shakes and goes back to solid foods, she may gain back some natural water weight. Keep walking!0
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Good points.
Yes, I AM weighing my foods- I am very careful. (Though I do need to be more careful with milk, I love it and miss it.)
My stats:
42 years old (Menopause, here we come. Whee.)
193 lbs
5'1"
(no, I do not roll if I fall down, lol)
On my "friend": She's a special breed of awful. She is the queen of the backhanded-compliment ("Wow! I can really tell you have lost weight- you are looking less beach ball-y" for reals, she really said this to me.) So, yeah, I really shouldn't compare myself to her- one can only hope that the B bounces back with additional pounds when she gains it back *insert evil laugh here.*
As to my activity, I am usually walking twice a day and swimming once a day. I am determined to look less "beach ball-y" *le sigh. According to my MFP I usually "earn back" anywhere from 200-800 calories back- some days I use the extras, other days I do my best to ignore them, that's hard, because, donuts. *winky face*1 -
Also, with my walking, I aim to keep my target heart rate in the 125 range/ give or take a bit. I would like to go faster, but my knees yell at me if I do.0
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Your diet is much more important to weight loss than your exercise. Weigh your food, log everything. Stay under your calorie goal.
Exercising is good for your health, of course, but its only relevance to weight loss is burning some calories.4 -
Also, with my walking, I aim to keep my target heart rate in the 125 range/ give or take a bit. I would like to go faster, but my knees yell at me if I do.
Check with your doctor if the knees feel out of line... If they're not damaged... Ice and compression will show benefits.
IF they are damaged, Ice and compression will give relief, but only rest will provide healing...0 -
As to my activity, I am usually walking twice a day and swimming once a day. I am determined to look less "beach ball-y" *le sigh. According to my MFP I usually "earn back" anywhere from 200-800 calories back- some days I use the extras, other days I do my best to ignore them, that's hard, because, donuts. *winky face*
What are you using to find out you are "getting 200-800 calories back"?
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As to my activity, I am usually walking twice a day and swimming once a day. I am determined to look less "beach ball-y" *le sigh. According to my MFP I usually "earn back" anywhere from 200-800 calories back- some days I use the extras, other days I do my best to ignore them, that's hard, because, donuts. *winky face*
What are you using to find out you are "getting 200-800 calories back"?
I use a FitBit to track on MFP and with my activity I "earn" extra calories (like so far today with my walk I earned 138 calories)
I am on the fence about whether or not I should allow myself to use them, KWIM? Most days I don't, but some days, for the safety of others I do use them.
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I lost well over 100lbs the first year doing nothing but walking. I wasn't just counting steps all day though, I was purposely going for 2-4mile walks walking as fast as I could handle. Steps throughout the day would add onto that amount, but I wouldn't really count those as calories I could use. I ate back somewhere around 70% of the calories I gained while walking for exercise along with my 2lb/week deficit settings. Usually if you aren't seeing the results you expected one of two things is wrong.. either you're figuring too many calories for your exercise and eating too many of those calories back, or you're logging your food incorrectly in some way (as in not weighing it, not counting condiments, etc.). Tighten up on your logging, weigh everything, be suspicious about the calories you're gaining from your exercise and you'll find the problem. It takes time to adjust.
Edit: Fitbit may be your issue. I see lots of people using a Fitbit and not losing the weight they think they should. My wife was one of them. It constantly gave her steps for doing almost nothing. It was so inaccurate after her not losing any weight using it hardly at all for 3 months we tossed it in the trash and switched her to using her iPhone for tracking walks and she started losing weight. Just a thought.6 -
The simple answer is yes you can lose exercise walking as long as you eat less calories then your body Burns.
To put things in perspective I'm a 56 year old male approximate weight is 210 lbs. Based on the calculations out there if I walk a mile I burn approximately 140 calories / mile, give or take.
Using those numbers if I wanted to lose a pound a week I could do it either two ways I could be totally sedentary and lower my calories 500 calories per day which would equal 3500 calories. The other option is I could walk approximately 21 miles a week which would roughly translate to 3500 calories burnt. Both of those will cause me to loose a pound a week.
Over 8 months I lost approximately 80 lbs.
That means I would have had to walk approximately 50 miles per week. My suggestion is to a combination of both limit your calories and do the walking and you will eventually get that cute figure and there's nothing wrong with wanting to look good no matter what your age is5 -
I never eat back my exercise calories. I eat 1200 calories per day and measure and weigh and RECORD everything. I have lost 35 pounds at a rate of 2-3 pounds per week. I walk 45 minutes a day and do zumba 3 times a week.4
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As to my activity, I am usually walking twice a day and swimming once a day. I am determined to look less "beach ball-y" *le sigh. According to my MFP I usually "earn back" anywhere from 200-800 calories back- some days I use the extras, other days I do my best to ignore them, that's hard, because, donuts. *winky face*
What are you using to find out you are "getting 200-800 calories back"?
I use a FitBit to track on MFP and with my activity I "earn" extra calories (like so far today with my walk I earned 138 calories)
I am on the fence about whether or not I should allow myself to use them, KWIM? Most days I don't, but some days, for the safety of others I do use them.
I always think you have to test it out. I have my calories set low and then eat back what I workout. I use an Apple Watch, I'm not sure how accurate fitbits are.
I'm 5'8, 171 pounds, 36 years old. My calories are set to 1350 and then I use exercise calories.
And I'm with you, sometimes for the safety of others I eat over my calories! Haha
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Honestly, probably the biggest problems are:
1. comparing myself to my frienemy
2. expecting faster results.
I am averaging 38 miles of walking a week and this week I have added 4 hours of water aerobics.
Slow. Steady. (hoping for patience.)
One day I'll get there. Slowly. But. Surely.1 -
Ive lost most of my weight for my goal by walking. Started to add more when my body got use to it and got easy for me. Had a step counter took about 10k steps a day. started two months and a week ago.Lost 33 pounds Im about 17 pounds from goal of a health bmi not my final goal but a starter goal. Im 4'11 and only 200
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2 lbs a week is a bit fast. I am very obese and did it at the beginning but I started having really bad delayed onset muscle soreness from workouts. I also was chronically tired. It was a mistake even in the morbidly obese range to lose that fast IMHO. 1 to 1/2 lbs of weight loss is better for a lifestyle change.
Back on topic: Yes walking and calorie deficit will lead to weight loss. So will just a calorie deficit. The walking part just helps increase overall health at same time.
DOMS is normal even in those who arent losing weight fast or even at all.2 lbs a week is fine(not fast at all its actually a healthy range) for those with 75 lbs or more to lose.2 -
Absolutely you can! There are tons of forums and communities dedicated to "walking yourself thin". And it's good you have Fitbit since all of their group challenges and solo adventures are based on steps (good motivation for a walker).
I don't know your overall fitness level, but to make sure you're *really* burning as much as you're awarded so that you can confidently eat back some of those calories... randomly stop every now and then and do 10 squats and keep walking... then "step up" on benches if you're in a park or walking track. Add a few push ups... stop and jog in place. A few lunges. Whatever you can do. And don't log the extra exercises separately. Then you are burning more calories and can feel confident in your walk-burns. Plus adding body weight exercises help you achieve a "cute body" easier than walking alone.1 -
Walking is my only form of exercise, and without it i would seriously struggle to stay in a deficit! Walking everyday get's me out of the red (in my diary), and in to the green.0
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I'd like to be losing 2lbs a week. So far it seems about .5 lb/week.
I just hate that a friend of mine started 4 weeks after me and exercises less and just changed a meal for a shake and she says she's lost 13lbs in that time. It effing kills me. Can't wait for her to make it to stupid menopause, too. *pouts
Tell her you lost 15. 3 -
WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »Absolutely you can! There are tons of forums and communities dedicated to "walking yourself thin". And it's good you have Fitbit since all of their group challenges and solo adventures are based on steps (good motivation for a walker).
I don't know your overall fitness level, but to make sure you're *really* burning as much as you're awarded so that you can confidently eat back some of those calories... randomly stop every now and then and do 10 squats and keep walking... then "step up" on benches if you're in a park or walking track. Add a few push ups... stop and jog in place. A few lunges. Whatever you can do. And don't log the extra exercises separately. Then you are burning more calories and can feel confident in your walk-burns. Plus adding body weight exercises help you achieve a "cute body" easier than walking alone.
Amazing! Thank you for this!1
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